Ballooning budget puts Apple TV Plus Original Foundation's future at risk

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A big shakeup.

Foundation — Official Season 2 Sneak Peek | Apple TV+
(Image credit: Apple)

The co-creator of Foundation, one of the best Apple TV Plus shows, is stepping back from his show duties amidst budget cuts drama.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the change comes after sources claimed: “Goyer and executives at the show’s production company, Skydance, clashed over the budget for the upcoming season.”

Foundation’s third season has been on a hiatus since March last year when the Hollywood strikes led to the halting of filming. Earlier this month, cast and crew were sent home from Poland, where filming takes place until problems with production were ironed out. Goyer will continue to be “creatively involved with the show, contributing scripts from Los Angeles,” with executive producer Bill Bost overseeing the rest of season three’s photography. 

Foundation is a sci-fi epic that tells the story of humans across the galaxy living under the rule of an evil empire based on a book by Isaac Asimov. The show has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy for its visual effects. The show is one of Apple’s most expensive productions, with estimates that the show costs around $5 million to film each episode.

What’s to come for Apple TV Plus?

With the end of the Hollywood strikes, filming has recommenced for a lot of productions, including shows like Silo and Severance. There’s a lot to be excited about on Apple TV Plus, with the company looking to cement itself as a key player in the streaming wars. 

One of the best movies on Apple TV Plus, Killers of the Flower Moon, is nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and Lily Gladstone is amongst the frontrunners for Best Actress following her win at the SAG Awards on Saturday night.

It’s estimated that Killers of the Flower Moon cost roughly $200 million and hasn’t yet made that back at the box office. Elsewhere, Apple Original, Argylle was a massive box office flop, recouping less than a tenth of its budget. In a world where the cinema and streaming services are fighting for our attention, it’s going to be difficult to see true profit from any big-budget production, regardless of whether it’s a film or a TV show. 

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John-Anthony Disotto
John-Anthony Disotto
How To Editor

John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself. Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings. John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019.  John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit.